Ithaca Chases Fifth Straight Empire 8 Men's Outdoor Track and Field Title
ROCHESTER, NY – Ithaca College chases its fifth consecutive outdoor title at the Empire 8 Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Championship on Sunday at Rochester Institute of Technology. The Bombers have won five outright outdoor titles and shared the 2007 title with the Tigers.
Senior Max Orenstein of the Bombers was named the Empire 8 Men’s Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year in 2010 after earning All-American honors in the 100- and 200-meter dashes. Senior Jeff Wetmore was named Empire 8 Men’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Year last month after winning the 200-meter dash at the Empire 8 and NYSCTC indoor championships.
Ithaca freshman Brendan Edmonds was named Empire 8 Men’s Indoor Track and Field Rookie of the Year last month. Sophomore Chris Mastrosimone earned Rookie of the Year accolades at the conclusion of the outdoor season last year. Senior Kyle Devins has provisionally qualified for the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships twice this season, including this past week in the long jump.
Junior Michael Dempsey of RIT earned his second consecutive Empire 8 Indoor Field Athlete of the Year honor in March and was also named the Field Athlete of the Year after last year’s outdoor season. He finished second at the national championship in the outdoor pole vault last year and fifth this year at the indoor national meet.
Senior thrower Brian Walker of the Tigers has earned Empire 8 Athlete of the Week honors three times this year and recently broke the school’s 37-year-old hammer throw record, provisionally qualifying for the national championship.
The Tigers and Bombers shared the Empire 8 title at the indoor conference meet.
Senior Mohamed Abuouf is the Stevens Institute of Technology record-holder in the 110-meter hurdles and recently qualified for the ECAC Championships in winning the event at the Ramapo College Roadrunner Invitational.
Senior Shawn Ross of Alfred University has earned all-conference honors in the shot put in each of her first three seasons. He won the event last year after placing second the previous two years.
Freshman Breiten Balschmiter of Utica College provisionally qualified for the NCAA indoor championships, becoming the first Pioneer to do so in the shot put. He finished second in the event this past weekend at the Cornell Invitational.
Nazareth College will be competing in its last conference championship under the direction of Scott Love, who will take over the cross country program at LeMoyne in the fall.